BPAC Protests Drone Use

A demonstration this evening on the courthouse square is part of a larger day of action called Days of Remembrance, a nationwide effort to bring attention to United States drone use.

“The U.S. drone program operates outside of the rule of law, essentially acting as judge jury and executioner,” says Timothy Baer, an organizer with Bloomington Peace Action Coalition

Names being read during the event are compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism from news sources in the regions that have been hit by done attacks, a part of a larger project by BIJ called “Naming the Dead.” The names will include 62 school children killed in an attack to a religious school in Pakistan. Baer says reading the names out loud brings a human element to a military tactic that has removed the hardships of war from those who carry out the attacks.

“Those who are killing people, they are removed from the kill-zone,” says Baer. “They are typically thousands of miles away.”

Today’s rally is being held on the courthouse square between 5 and 6 pm, coinciding with events nationwide as well as a quilt exhibition also protesting the use of drones on display in the Monroe County Public Library through May 18th. The Bloomington Peace Action Coalition has proposed a local resolution for passage by the Bloomington City council. Baer says it is important for local legislatures to take a stand against actions made by the federal government, and sees continued drone warfare as increasing safety risks in America.

“The actions we are taking are in no way decreasing terrorism, they are without a shadow of a doubt increasing it, we are essentially creating more enemies than can be destroyed.”